Garner played an ex-con private eye who lived in a trailer in Malibu. Rockford dedicated himself to re-opening "closed cases," digging up new evidence to prove that the authorities had been wrong with the original verdict. Rockford was nearly always broke due to his occasional willingness to accept a case free of charge or because of duplicitous clients or heavy fines for "bending" the law.

Shore was a fan of the show and understands the pressure of making a remake. "It's one of the shows that made me want to become a writer," he said. "I had no interest in adapting any old stuff, but this was the one exception."

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